Rectractable closure for collapsible tube, having means to prevent its accidental removal therefrom



2,574,990 E, HAVING MEANS Nov 13,1951

1 R. B. WAITE RETRACTABLE CL URE FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUB TO PREVE ITS ACCIDENTAL REMOVAL THEREFROM Filed Oct. 23, 1947 INVENTOR Rg/p/z 5. WCY/ZQ ATTO R N EY3 Patented Nov. 13, 1951 RECTRACTABLE CLOSURE FOR COLLAPSI- BLE TUBE, HAVING MEANS TO PREVENT ITS ACCIDENTAL REMOVAL THEREFROM Ralph E. Waite, Springville, N. Y. Application October 23, 1947, Serial No. 781,559

Claims. ((31. 222 522) This invention relates in general to improvements in containers and dispensers for dental cream or like products, and has particular reference to an improved container and dispenser closure for use in connection with dental cream,

shaving cream, cosmetics, and the like.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a container which embodies improved means for controlling the dispensing of the contents thereof so that all outer surfaces of the container and plug remain clean and free of cream under all operating conditions.

Another object has been to provide a dispensing control closure for containers which shall effectively seal the contents of the container intermediately of dispensing operations.

Moreover, it has been a specific object of the invention to provide an improved multiple seal,

arran ement for the closure member.

The above objects and advantages, as well as others which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, have been accomplished by the device shown in the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary enlarged sectional side view taken through a portion of a dispensing tube of the collapsible type, showing by solid lines the dispensing control member in closed position and by broken lines the control member in dispensing position;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, on a reduced scale, of the closure and container members;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the container closure of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View, on an enlarged scale, of the container and the closure, taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a section taken along line V-V of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section taken along line VI--VI of Fig. 3.

The invention is applicable to containers having rigid walls such as receptacles for tooth powder and the like, or to collapsible tubes containing pastes of various kinds For purposes of illustration, the invention is shown applied to the latter type of container.

The container is formed of soft metal and has the usual body part In provided with an upstanding reduced cylindrical neck ll formed with a cylindrical bore i2 extending through an enlarged annular wall portion I3 located near the inner end of the neck II, to serve as an accurate slide-fit bearing for a dispensing control device M as will be explained hereinafter. The dispensing control member l4 comprises a cylindrical body of plastic material having a central longitudinal slot 20 closed at its upper end by means of the head 2] of the member. This head is preferably oval or oblong in plan form shape so as to enable the operator to securely grasp the same with his fingers and to rotate the plug to facilitate seating and looking or unseating and unlocking of the plug relative to the container.

, The inner end of the closure I4 is provided with an arcuately shaped slot 22 supplementing the slot 20; a thick back wall 23 and a front wall 24 which is outwardly swelled as indicated at 26 (Fig. l) to provide a barb-shaped formation at the lower end of the member I l. The barb portion 26 is vertically bisected by means of a groove 28 (Figs. 3, 5) extending from the lower end of the closure and running into a transverse groove 29; thereby providing a pair of normally outstanding ends adapted to act as detents to prevent the dispensing control member from becoming detached from the neck of the container subsequent to assembly thereof within the tube. The slots 28-29 within the wall of the member M extend into the material of the plug to a limited distance to make the detents 3|l3fi flexible and resilient relative to the main body of the closure; whereby the detents 3fi-3ll are designed to extend outwardly beyond the contour of the body it, thereby forming detents for engagement under the flange I3 formed at the lower end of the neck ll of the container. The taper of the face 26 is such that the shoulders are guided into the bore of the neck when inserting the dispensing member and the resilient wall sections are thus easily compressed by the neck as the member is passed downwardly into the bore thereof, and spring outwardly so that upon reverse axial movement they will engage the flange and thereby prevent the member from becoming detached from the container. As stated before, the slots 28-49 do not extend all the way through the closure wall, thereby leaving thin webs 32 of plastic which seal the slots against passage of dental cream or the like therethrough, while permitting the compression action referred to hereinabov'e. In fact, it is contemplated that the entire closure member M i will be molded of synthetic plastic material, and

that the grooves 28-49 will be formed therein by providing suitable projections on the molding die; the projections being dimensioned so as to leave only a thin web or flash of plastic material closing the inner ends of the grooves, as indicated at 32 Fig. 6). This flash formation is relatively thin and therefore quite flexible, and

material of the tube or container is to be dispensed, the closure will be drawn from the neck until the shoulders 30-30 engage the flange I3 at which time the dispensing opening 34 will be clear of the upper edge of the'neck I l' andin such position that the material may easily pass therethrough. When the desired amount of material has been dispensed, the member is pushed inwardly either by finger pressure thereon or by pressing'the cap 2! of the plug against a nearby wallsurface or the like. To facilitate such an operation I provide an outstanding central boss 35 on the top of the cap 2|, so that whenever the cap is shoved against a wall or the like the pressure thereon is centered through the boss 35 and thereby directed truly longitudinally of the plug so as to avoid jamming of'the latter in the neck I l. The upper end of the closure I4 is tapered as shown at 36 (Fig. 3) so that every time the closure is pressed back to sealing position the flaring portion 36 thereof engages the upper end of the neck H and slightly expands the soft metal of the latter (comically) to hermetically seal the container; the opening 34 being thereby snugly cov-- ered by the neck when in this position. However, at all times the straight walled center portion 38 of the closure I4 cooperates with the bearing portion I2 of the container neck to accurately guide adjustment movements of the closure member and prevents leakage of cream around the closure I4 and holds the closure against wabbling in the neck during dispensing operations.

I have gone to particular pains to design the closure member l4 so as to prevent undesirable extrusion of dental cream through the opening 34 of the closure member every time the user presses the closure member inwardly, following a dispensing operation. Normally, in arrangements of this general type there is a marked tendency for the cream to be pressed outwardly of the container and through the dispensing opening incidental to every such closing operation. I prevent such action by designing the lower end of the lug I4 to be partially closed by the thick back wall 23, whereby a greatly reduced back pressure is'transmitted into the chamber 22 when the plug i4 is shoved into the container. Furthermore, by arranging the slot 20 to be of a cross sectional area much less than that of the bore 22 and leaving the shoulder 39 at the juncture of the bores 20-22, a further reduction of thetransmitted back pressure is providedat the outlet port 34. This arrangement operates to prevent too rapid passage of dentalcream toward the outlet orifice 34 whenever the closure is pushed back into the container following a dispensing operation, thereby preventing formation of a daub of the contents of the tube at the outlet port 34.

As indicated at 40; Figs. 1, 3, 4 the closure member 14 is formed with a short screw thread ridge 40'at approximately the inner end of the tapered section 36 of theclosure member. Thus, whenever the closure is rammed inwardly of the container so as to seal the contents of the container, the ridge 40 cuts a slight screwthread groove into the soft metal of the neck ll. Then, upon rotation of the closure in the neck of the container, the ridge 40 will cut a groove extending inwardly of the inner surface of the container neck; thereby'eff'ecting a locking of the closure member in the container neck in the manner of a screwthread connection therewith. This provides just enough extra locking of the closure in the container neck, in addition to the friction lock action which is provided by the taper-shaped portion 36 of the closure, to prevent the closure M from becoming accidentally loosened in the container neck. For example, this is desirable when the tubeof cream is to be kept and/or used in a warm place such as in a store window display exposed to sunshine, or under other hot climatical conditions, or wherever it is exposed to heat tending to expand the contents of the tube in such manner as would normally force open only a press-fitted plug device. Also, I prefer to provide an indicator device such as a ridge or marking as illustrated at 42 on the cap piece 2! just over the outlet port 34 of the plug, so as to provide a ready guide through sense of touch or feel to the user with respect to the direction of extrusion of the cream from the container.

I claim:

1. A dispensing container for dental cream or the like, comprising a container member having a cylindrical neck formed of soft-metal and a closure member thereof comprising a generally cylindrically shaped plug member having an ovalshaped cap portion and a longitudinal bore extending therethrough from the opposite end thereof and terminating under said cap portion, a laterally directed port extending through a side wall portion of said plug member into communication with the longitudinal bore and so posicloned as to be covered by said container neck whenever the closure member'is pressed inwardly thereof, said closure member being of tapered form at the upper portion thereof so that whenever the closure member is pressed inwardly of said container said tapered portion presses into said container neck to swell the latter thereby providing a snug closing fit, said closure member being barb-shaped at'its lower end thereby providing an upwardly facing shoulder adapted to prevent complete retraction of said closure from said container neck, said barb shaped formation being slotted to divide it into a pair of relatively compressible shoulder portions whereby to permit said closure to be" initially forced into said container neck, said slotted formation having a flash web extending thereacross' to seal it against'passa'ge of' dental cream therethrough;

2. A dispensing container for dental cream or the like, comprising a container member having a cylindrical neck formed of soft material, and a closure member therefore comprising a generally cylindrically shaped plug member having an oval-shaped cap portion and a longitudinal bore extending therethrough from the opposite end thereof and terminating under said cap portion, a laterally directed port extending through a side wall portion of said plug member into communication with the longitudinal bore and so' positioned as to be covered by said container'neck whenever the closure member is pressed inwardly thereof, said closure member being'of taperedform at the upper portion there- "of'so that whenever the closure member is pressed inwardly of said container said tapered portion presses into said container neck to swell the latter thereby providing a snug closing fit, said closure member being barb-shaped at its lower end thereby providing an upwardly facing shoulder adapted to interfere with complete retraction of said closure outwardly of said container neck, said barb-shaped formation being slotted to divide it into a pair of relatively compressible shoulder portions whereby to permit said closure to be initially forced into said container neck, said slotted formation having a flash web extending thereacross to seal it against passage of dental cream therethrough, said closure member having an outwardly extending ridge adapted to cut into the soft material of said container neck when said closure is pressed into container sealing position, whereby said closure member may be manually rotated relative to the container to cause said projection to cut a locking thread into said container neck to prevent accidental loosening of the snug fit of said closure in said container neck.

3. A dispensing container for dental cream or the like comprising a container member having a cylindrical neck portion formed of soft material, and a closure member therefor comprising a generally cylindrically shaped plug member having an oval-shaped cap portion and a longitudinal bore extending therethrough from the opposite end thereof and terminating under said cap portion, a laterally directed port extending through a side wall portion of said plug member into communication with the longitudinal bore and so positioned as to be covered by said container neck portion whenever the closure member is pressed inwardly thereof, said closure member being of tapered form at the upper portion thereof so that whenever the closure member is pressed inwardly of said container said tapered portion presses into said container neck to swell the latter thereby providing a hermetically closing fit, said closure member being barb-shaped at its lower end thereby providing an upwardly facing detent formation designed to prevent retraction of said closure outwardly of said container neck, said barb-shaped formation being slotted to divide it into a pair of relatively compressible detent portions whereby to permit said closure to be initially forced into said container neck, said slotted formation having a flash web extending thereacross to seal the slot against passage of dental cream therethrough, said closure member having'a ridge designed to cut into the soft material of said container neck when said closure is pressed into container sealing position whereby said closure member may be manually twisted relative to the container to cause said projection to cut a locking thread into said container neck to prevent accidental loosening of said 010- sure from said container, and a boss formation formed to extend from said closure member cap centrally thereof to receive pressures thereagainst and to direct such pressures into longitudinal alignment with said closure member, said longitudinal bore in said closure member having an upper portion and a lower portion, said lower portion having a sectional area approximately one-half the sectional area of said closure member, said upper portion having a sectional area less than said lower portion, and an inclined balile surface joining the offset portions of the walls of said upper and lower portions of said bore,so as to oppose dispensing movement of the a 6 contents of said container through said longitudinal bore.

4. A dispensing container for dental cream or the like comprising a container member having a. neck portion formed of soft material, and a closure member therefor comprising a plug member having a longitudinal bore extending into one end thereof, said bore having an average sectional area equalv approximately to one half the sectional area of said plug, a laterally directed port extending through a side wall portion of said plug member into communication with the longitudinal bore and so positioned as to be covered by said container neck portion whenever the closure member is pressed inwardly thereof, said closure member being of tapered form at the upper portion thereof so that whenever the closure member is pressed inwardly of said container said tapered portion presses into said container neck to swell the latter thereby providing a snug closing fit, said closure member having detent means at its lower end designed to interfere with retraction of said closure outwardly of said container neck, said detent formation being slotted to divide it into a pair of relatively compressible detents whereby to permit said closure to be initially forced into said container neck, said slotted formation having a flash. web extending thereacross to seal the slot against passage of dental cream therethrough.

5. A dispensing container comprising a container body having a neck provided with a cylindrical bore portion at the lower end thereof, andv a closure member therefore comprising a plug member having a cap portion and being provided with a cylindrical surface portion throughout the greater portion of its length slidably fitting said cylindrical bore portion for movement between an inner closed position and an outer open position, said plug member having a longitudinal passage communicating at its inner end with the interior of said body and a lateral discharge port communicating with the upper end of said longitudinal passage and arranged above said neck when said plug is in its open position, said cap having a top surface of substantial area and being provided centrally of such area with a small protuberance having a high point in axial alignment with said cylindrical bore portion whereby, when said plug is in open position, pressure axially applied against said protuberance will exert a force on said plug member substantially axially thereof to move it to closed position without binding in said cylindrical bore portion.

RALPH B. WAITE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 671,682 Tuttle Apr. 9, 1901 1,570,900 Lieberthal Jan. 26, 1926 1,753,239 Fox Apr. 8, 1930 1,949,902 Desser Mar. 6, 1934 2,073,292 Waite et al Mar. 9, 1937 2,142,293 Waite Jan. 3, 1939 20 Stubler Feb. 27, 1940 2,334,851 Waite Nov. 23, 1943 2, 65,524 Court Dec. 19, 1944 2,379,327 Waite June 26, 1945 

